Knowing the past to improve the future: Estimating historical fishing catches to improve fisheries management in the Western Mediterranean Sea

We developed for the first time the commercial fishing catches reconstruction of the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean) between 1950 and 2010, by adding non-reported components, including unreported landings and discards, to the official reported landing data. To back‑estimate historical unreported landings and discards, collaboration and information acquired from fishermen were essential, as gathered through interviews and observer programs of the Spanish Oceanographic Institute (IEO) on board commercial bottom trawling fleet. We estimated a total catch of 511,500 t over the period 1950‑2010, of which official landings represented 49% (around 248,000 t), followed by unreported catches (32%) and discards (20%). A decrease in unreported catches was observed during the period 1950-2010 (from 58% to 38%) due to a reduction of unreported landings, but substantial efforts are still required to improve the recordings of actual fishing catches. This work contributes to the global assessment of fisheries removals led by the Sea Around Us and aims to provide the basis for an improved management of the Balearic Islands and Mediterranean Sea fisheries

Plan de Implementación Regional para Pesquerías Demersales de las Islas Baleares (Mediterráneo Occidental)

De acuerdo con la Política Pesquera Común (PPC), todos los stocks pesqueros europeos deberían situarse en un estado que les permita producir en base al Rendimiento Máximo Sostenible (RMS) en el año 2020 como tarde. El proyecto Myfish, financiado por el Séptimo Programa Marco de la UE, tuvo como objetivo construir un marco operacional para la implementación del objetivo del RMS como herramienta para la futura gestión de stocks pesqueros europeos. Este informe presenta el Plan de Implementación Regional para pesquerías demersales de las Islas Baleares (Mediterráneo Occidental) desarrollado en el marco de Myfish en estrecha colaboración con los principales stakeholders locales. El estudio pretende ser de utilidad como primer paso hacia el diseño de planes de gestión pesquera en el área de estudio y un ejemplo práctico de la implementación de la PPC en el Mediterráneo

Pla d’Implementació Regional per a Pesqueries Demersals de les Illes Balears (Mediterrani Occidental)

D’acord amb la Política Pesquera Comuna (PPC), tots els stocks de peixos europeus haurien de situarse en l’estat que els permetés produir en base al Rendiment Màxim Sostenible (RMS) a l’any 2020 com a màxim. El projecte Myfish, finançat pel Sèptim Programa Marc de la UE, va tenir com a objectiu construir un marc operacional per a la implementació de l’objectiu RMS com a eina per a la futura gestió d’stocks pesquers europeus. Aquest informe presenta el Pla d’Implementació Regional (PIR) per a pesqueries demersals de les Illes Balears (Mediterrani Occidental) desenvolupat en el marc de Myfish en estreta col.laboració amb els principals stakeholers locals. L’estudi pretén ser d’utilitat com a primera passa cap al disseny de plans de gestió pesquera a l’àrea d’estudi i un exemple pràctic d’implementació de la PPC al Mediterrani

Assessment and management of western Mediterranean small-scale fisheries

Nearly 75% of European fishing vessels belongs to small-scale fisheries (SSF). However, SSF have received little attention compared to industrial fisheries. In the Mediterranean Sea, where the SSF traditionally had a high socio-economic relevance, there is a widespread interest in securing its sustainable exploitation and viability. Here we analyze the SSF from Mallorca (Balearic Islands) using fishery statistics from the last 25 years (1990–2014). Although fleet size declined markedly (−55%), landings remained constant which might be related to different, not mutually exclusive explanations such as a decrease in unreported catches, stagnant and closed market or technological creeping. Multivariate analysis revealed eight different fishing tactics corresponding to the main target species. Aggregated, these eight species accounted for 52% and 71% of SSF landings weight and value, respectively. The fishery of these species is markedly seasonal and the landings of most of them showed important fluctuations but no clear trends. In contrast with the claims of SSF having lower impact on the natural resources than other fisheries, surplus production models revealed a generalized overexploitation of these target stocks, especially for the most high-valued species. Simulations with a bioeconomic model showed that fishing effort reductions of 38% would improve the health of fish stocks while increasing the economic profits to as much as 15% from current profits. If all stocks were kept below their MSY level, the reduction in fishing effort would have to be of 53% from current values. If the economic yield from the fishery was to be maximized (MEY), fishing effort would need to be reduced by 28%. Owing to important quantities of unreported catches in the most high-valued species, output values of the stock status indicators and the bioeconomic modelling should be taken with care beyond tracking trends in the fisheryVersión del editor1,524

Estimates of total fisheries removal for the Balearic Islands (1950-2010)

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Improving the performance of a Mediterranean demersal fishery toward economic objectives beyond MSY

Mediterranean demersal fisheries are highly multispecific and many of their target stocks are overex-ploited. In addition, rocketing fuel costs and low market prices of traditionally high-value species arechallenging the viability of fisheries. Here, based on the numeric results of a simulation model, we con-clude that this situation can be remedied by reducing both fishing mortality and fishing costs. Accordingto our model results, fishing effort reductions of 48–71% would improve the health of fish stocks whileincreasing the economic profits of Mallorca islands bottom trawl fishery to as much as 1.9 MD (146%higher than current profits). If all fish stocks were exploited at their MSY (or below) level, the reductionin fishing effort would have to be of 71% from current values. If equilibrium profits from the fishery wereto be maximized (MEY), fishing effort would need to be reduced by 48%. These results must be takenwith caution due the many sources of uncertainty of our analysis. The modeling tools used to estimatethese values are conditional to the adequate treatment of two sources of uncertainty that are partic-ularly problematic in Mediterranean fisheries: insufficiently known recruitment variability and lack ofperiodic evaluations of the state of many species. Our results show that fishing effort reductions wouldproduce economic yield gains after a period of transition. Further studies on the benefits of changing thesize-selection pattern of fisheries, on better estimation of stock–recruitment relationships and on betterquantifications of the contribution of secondary species to these fisheries, are expected to improve thescientific recommendations for Mediterranean demersal fisheries toward sustainability principles.Versión del editor1,586

Prevalence, associated factors and predictors of depression among adults in the community of Selangor, Malaysia

Introduction Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders and is an emerging public health problem. The objectives of this paper were to determine the prevalence of depression, its associated factors and the predictors of depression among adults in the community of Selangor. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted in three districts in Selangor, from 11th June to 30th December 2012. The sampling frame was obtained from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOS) in May 2012, using the National Population and Housing Census 2010. Adults aged 18 years and above, living in the selected living quarters were approached to participate in the study and requested to complete a set of questionnaires. Results A total of 1,556 out of 2,152 participants participated in this study, giving an overall study response rate of 61.90%. Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) was used to determine the presence of depression. The prevalence of depression was 10.3%, based on the PHQ-9 cut off point of 10 and above. Based on multiple logistic regression analysis, the predictors of depression were presence of anxiety, serious problems at work, unhappy relationship with children, high perceived stress, domestic violence, unhappy relationship with spouse, low self-esteem, unhappy relationship with family, serious financial constraint and presence of chronic diseases. When reanalyzed after removing anxiety, high perceived stress and low self-esteem, additional predictors of depression were found to be serious marital problems and religiosity. Conclusion The prevalence of depression in this study is similar to that found in other studies. Findings from this study are being used as baseline data to develop an effective program to assist in the management of common mental health disorders in the community, in particular depression. The identification of predictors of depression in the community is important to identify the target population for the program